bigglesfandomcom-20200215-history
King à la rescousse (Aredit comic)/plot
The main difference between the original story and its adaptation here is that the latter comes to a conclusion much more quickly. Several scenes are omitted and other scenes are merged. Where in the original, most of the deductions were made by Cub, here they are more evenly spread. The section headings below are not used in the comic strip and are only inserted here to allow easier comparison with the original. The chapter numbers in brackets refer to those in the original book. Some Old Friends Meet (Chapter 1) The meeting at the garage is faithfully depicted but here they don't spend time bemoaning the difficult economic climate. Cub moves quickly to explain why he is in London. Gimlet does not send the advertisement to Cub. Here he cut it out himself from a newspaper. The contents of the advertisement is the same. The manner in which Cub has to make his rendezvous and how he is ferried to meet Vanderskell is the same. Cub Takes a Job (Chapters II-III) Cub disposes of Linton as described except here instead of flinging his cap, he flings his macintosh. Vanderskell doesn't ask him to shoot at a painting. They get down to business much more quickly. The interview about Cub's backstory is briefer but the briefing about the kidnapping is covered in great detail in all the particulars. Some of the details given by Vanderskell are related by Cub to Copper and Trapper over drinks later. He shows them, for example, a picture of both Joe the Snout and Frenchie Lou. He also tells them about the blue Maltese cross tattoo. To Vallonceau (Chapter IV) Unlike the original, Cub, Trapper and Copper fly together to Nice, not to Avignon. Cub tells the others that Gimlet declined to assist, saying that the adventurous life no longer interests him. Cub takes a bus from Nice while Trapper and Copper drive up in a rental car. The check in at the hotel is as depicted in the original and Cub does meet the poet Leon. The only extra event is that the hotel proprietor actually drives him off and calls him "pinkshirt". The proprietor tells Cub the poet is a little off his head. The First Clues (Chapters V-VIII) The first visit to the château doesn't take place. Instead the party take walks and find nothing for three days. The two things happen simultaneously. Cub spots the children playing by the wall (three boys, not a boy and a girl), and the whole episode about Sara takes place. Cub doesn't ask her to draw a cross for him--he goes straight into a bet. The cross is on her right arm, not the left arm. Meanwhile Trapper suggests that he and Copper visit the château. Trapper knocks on the door and they are greeted by the custodian. It is Trapper who spots the American cigarette and its a "Winston" not a "Lucky Strike", apparently, a luxury brand, according to Trapper. They spot Cub in the river valley and regroup. The scene where Cub meets Sara's father is narrated in retrospect. The father is not named but the details of Sara's backstory are faithfully depicted. The murder of the woman who abandoned Sara by her husband Cristiano Zabani is not mentioned. Here Cristiano is the proprietor of the château and not the proprietor of the hostelry near by (which does not appear in the adaptation). The further discussion where Cub promises the gipsy even more money if he would protect her until her real father could reclaim her is not depicted. The gaffe where Cub learns that the château custodian is in fact Cristiano Zabani takes place as in the original, only Copper and Trapper are with him. Cub's excuse is he wants to sketch the magnificent ceilings of the château (in this case it's the château and not the hostelry). Cristiano tells Cub there's nothing interesting to see there (which is strange because he just showed Copper and Trapper around and earned six francs from them. Cristiano becomes much more hostile here than in the original and pointedly asks Cub to go spend his holiday elsewhere. Copper wants to teach him a lesson but Cub stops him. Cub Gets a Shock (Chapter IX) Trapper had noticed a motorbike at the castle. Then he overheard Cristiano on the phone talking to someone and saying, "Tonight, Boss?" As expected, Cristiano rides his bike to Nice that night. Copper and Cub follow. As per the original, he spots Joe the Snout, Frenchie Lou, Critiano and the Poet. Into the Castle (Parts of Chapters X and XIV) From here on the story takes a slightly different tack. Joe does not come up and stay at the Hotel Midi so the events in Chapter XI do not take place. Instead, straight after coming back from Nice, they decide that since Cristiano is in Joe's gang, Johnny must be in the castle so they decide to enter it and rescue him rightaway. Trapper shows them a builders yard where they take a ladder, and Cub enters the castle alone (a blend of Chapter X and XIV). He goes through the dungeon level and finds a tunnel so he decides to follow it. Events Outside (Not in original) Meanwhile, Copper and Trapper spot a Buick approaching. It takes the road to the town and not the château. Trapper asks Copper to go back to Cub in case he needs help. Still watching the road, Trapper now sees a Triump Spitfire approaching. The Triumph stops outside the Hotel Midi and Trapper goes up to meet the driver. It's Gimlet! (Note that in the original, he drove a Bentley from Britain to Vallonceau. In this case he had flown to Nice and the Triumph had been flown over on a cargo plane! Passage of the Styx (Chapter XII) Meanwhile Cub has followed the tunnel. Unlike the original, it doesn't lead to the Hostelrie du Château (this doesn't appear in the adaptation). It leads to an old isolated house outside the village near a ruined Roman aqueduct. Cub silently opens a door and sees Johnny! But Joe and his gang have arrived in the Buick so Cub escapes from the house through a window. The gang gives chase and Cub gets on the aqueduct to escape. The decision to use the aqueduct is not so clear. Unlike in the original, he is not between two enemies. He has plenty of other places to run to, especially the surrounding rocky area which affored a lot of cover. Be that as it may, he runs and then crawls on the structure and then has to make the flying leap across the gap as described in the original. At the other hand, he finds the Poet waiting for him (not Jeff as in the original). Gimlet comes up from behind and knocks the Poet out. Gimlet and Trapper had arrived at the house in time to see Cub running off under pursuit and had gone to help. They see Joe and Lou running towards the house but they don't go in. Instead they board the Buick and drive off. Gimlet is puzzled. Why did they run off and not take Cristiano and Johnny with them? Copper Pulls His Weight (not in original) The final act belongs to Copper and not Trapper in this adaptation. He had gone back to support Cub and went inside the château. He then took the tunnel and ended up in the house where he had surprised and tied up Cristiano. He then told Johnny to hide while he took care of Joe and Lou who were running to the house. As it turned out, they fled in their car. Cub now turns up with the Poet as his prisoner. Apparently he had recovered and had fled to the Hotel Midi where Cub had caught him. All Buttoned Up (different from original) On Gimlet's instructions, Cub calls the police, then goes off to get Sara. A few hours later, Inspector Marini from the Judicial Police, Nice, turns up at the Hotel Midi. He tells Cub that, after his call, the police had apprehended Joe and Loe at the bar where they had been seen the night before. Cub now turns over two more, the Poet and Cristiano, to him. Gimlet and co. as can be seen, do not regroup at Monte Carlo. Later that evening, to the satisfaction of the four friends, Sara and Johnny are reunited with Vanderskell at Nice Airport. In the original, they went to meet Vanderskell at the railway station in Monaco. Category:Plot summaries (derivative works)